A new method for locking the signal-field phase difference in a type-II optical parametric oscillator above threshold

We propose and demonstrate a new method for phaselocking the signal fields emitted above threshold by a nondegenerate, type-II optical parametric oscillator (OPO). This method is based on the observation that amplitude modulation of the pump beam produces a related modulation of the frequency difference of the OPO signals via the temperature-tuning of the index of refraction in the nonlinear crystal. We successfully use pump modulation as a correction for phase-difference locking of the OPO signals and observe a 1 kHz beat note stable over more than 10 s, both figures solely limited by the measurement time. This method eliminates the need for applying electronic phase-correction signals directly to the nonlinear crystal which caused crystal damage in a previous phaselocking technique. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America